Over the past decade, the Philadelphia School District’s enrollment has dropped by nearly 20,000 students. (Photo by Hannah Yoon for Chalkbeat)
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat.
Pennsylvania school districts will receive $11.8 billion next year in the state budget signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro over the weekend, an enhance of $670 million over last year.
The $50.8 billion budget includes an infusion of money for job training and special education programs, as well as more funding for teacher stipends and additional cybersecurity requirements for charter schools to monitor student well-being.
But the budget, which often includes major education legislation, did not include the ban on cell phones in schools that Shapiro expected or less funding for early childhood education than the governor expected.
The budget includes $157 million more for schools in Philadelphia, the state’s largest district.
In response to A Court ruling from 2023 which found the state’s school financing system unconstitutional, the budget gives districts a $565 million boost under the so-called “adequate financing”. It also allocates $58 million more to basic education funding and $47 million more to special education funding.
While the overall budget is about $2 billion less than Shapiro proposed, the final amounts for education are larger than he initially proposed.
“In my opinion, a quality education requires not only dollars and cents, but also common sense,” Shapiro said during Sunday’s budget speech. He said that’s why he urged schools to require schools to provide all primary and secondary school students with a 30-minute recess every day, which is included in the budget. Philadelphia schools guaranteed day break for all district students already in February.
Mai Miksic, executive director of the Pennsylvania-based advocacy group Children First, said in a statement that the budget would lend a hand schools “sustain and build upon the academic progress made possible by increased adequate funding.”
However, she was disappointed that the budget “was not large enough to support early childhood education”. Shapiro initially proposed a $10 million enhance for a program aimed at recruiting and retaining child care workers and a $7.5 million enhance for the state’s Pre-K Counts free kindergarten program. However, the final budget included only half of these increases.
Laura Boyce, executive director of the Pennsylvania advocacy group Teach Plus, said increasing teacher adequacy funding and stipends is “something worth celebrating.”
But she hoped the budget would enhance funding for early literacy rather than keep it constant at $10 million. That’s a “good down payment,” Boyce said, but “not close to the amount we will ultimately need” to lend a hand schools meet literacy requirements set to take effect in the 2027-28 school year, such as implementing professional development and demonstrations.
In the last two years, Philadelphia students’ scores on English language and literature tests have dropped. Approximately one-third of students in grades 3–8 achieved proficient or higher levels on the ELA exam on the latest state assessments.
Some conservatives had hoped the budget would include more investment in existing state school choice tax credit programs, while a deadline looms for Shapiro to determine whether Pennsylvania join the federal tax credit program. “Unfortunately, the budget agreement does not significantly increase educational choice,” said Nathan Benefield, director of policy at the conservative think tank the Commonwealth Foundation.
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg said in a statement that he was disappointed that the budget bill did not include a statewide cell phone ban. However, he welcomed additional general funding for schools.
“As always, we look forward to a faster timeline that closes the adequacy gap between affluent and non-affluent districts once and for all,” Steinberg said.
Pennsylvania increases funding for job training, student teachers
This year’s budget includes a $10 million enhance for career and technical education programs as part of a total annual investment of $193 million in workforce development. It also slightly changes the testing requirements for these programs, allowing vocational training centers to administer competency tests before students reach the 12th grade and thus lend a hand them complete the programs.
Peter Schweyer, a Democrat and chairman of the House Education Committee, praised the changes, saying they would allow the programs to enroll more students.
The budget also includes an additional $10 million for the popular student and teacher scholarship program, bringing the total to $40 million. Program there has been oversubscription in recent years.
According to a statement from the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the enhance means about 700 future teachers and co-teachers will receive scholarships next year.
The budget also increased funding for the state’s child welfare staff retention and recruitment program by $5 million, for a total of $30 million.
The budget allocates $120 million for mental health and safety in K-12 schools
This year’s budget also includes $120 million to improve mental health and safety in K-12 schools. Last year, the Shapiro administration approved the same amount for this category for updates on school safety, custodial staff training and mental health resources such as calming spaces in schools.
Organizations helping prevent gun violence in Philadelphia and across the state will receive $62.2 million in the up-to-date state budget, an amount similar to what was allocated last year. Prevention groups dealing with violence prevention he praised this moveespecially as these and similar efforts face threats at the federal level.
Last year, this funding was also provided supported extracurricular activities that lend a hand children stay connected with trusted adults and reduce the risk of exposure to violence.
The Shapiro administration credits this investment with a 35% reduction in homicides and a 40% reduction in gun crimes statewide, according to Uniform Crime Reporting cited on the state website.
Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. He writes about public schools, early childhood education and issues that affect students, families and teachers throughout Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org.
Sammy Caiola discusses solutions to gun violence in and around Philadelphia schools. Do you have any ideas for her? Contact us at scaiola@chalkbeat.org.
Carly Sitrin is the Chalkbeat Philadelphia Bureau Chief. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
